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We sailed through ‘Pirate Alley’ (the Gulf of Aden) in 2010 and although it was a tense passage it was not something we took lightly. We researched and researched, joined organisations, followed piracy updates, studied piracy attack maps and were in constant communication with naval task forces from the south of the Red Sea to India.

The number of people we meet cruising the Indian Ocean and its environs who have no knowledge of the latest piracy situation is worrying. We believe in arming ourselves with as much up-to-date information on piracy before making an informed decision as to whether it is a safe passage or not. With this in mind in 2010 we started providing a free piracy alert service.

The best place to get these updates is either this page or our piracy_update Twitter service, which sends updates out to over 1,700 seafarers. Sources include the BBC, Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, Twitter, ICC, Reuters and various African and Middle Eastern publications.

You may subscribe to our daily piracy email or weekly piracy email. If you are on low-bandwidth email then don’t forget to select ‘text-only’ version of the weekly email. To get piracy attack alert emails click here. If you prefer RSS ^[?] use this link to subscribe to daily RSS. See the right-hand column for more subscription options including Followtheboat’s Twitter piracy update for up-to-the-minute alerts.

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ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Latest Data

The ICC IMB offer a great 24-hour manned piracy update service on Twitter, which we recommend following.

Updated on 16 September 2014. Source: ICC

[one_half last=”no”] [counters_circle] [counter_circle filledcolor=”” unfilledcolor=”” value=”60″]163[/counter_circle] [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]

Worldwide incidents

[/one_half] [one_half last=”no”] [counters_circle] [counter_circle filledcolor=”” unfilledcolor=”” value=”30″]16/0[/counter_circle] [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]

Somali related incidents

Sixteen reported incidents but no hi-jackings

[/one_half] [one_half last=”no”] [counters_circle] [counter_circle filledcolor=”” unfilledcolor=”” value=”60″]170 / 12[/counter_circle] [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]

Current crew / vessels held by Somali pirates

[/one_half] [one_half last=”no”] [counters_circle] [counter_circle filledcolor=”” unfilledcolor=”” value=”60″]33[/counter_circle] [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]

West Africa related incidents

33 reported incidents including four hijacking.

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Latest News

Please note this is an automated service. We are not responsible for any of the news content on this page. We try our best to filter out spurious and irrelevant content but occasionally they do slip through. If you notice inappropriate content please let us know.

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Essential Contacts And Documents

In this section we provide only the most essential contacts and pointers to necessary documentation. It is up to the navigator to source all necessary information that they think appropriate for their passage. Our best advice is that you contact as many organisations and contacts of your detailed passage plan as possible, including task forces and coastguards. Below are our recommended contacts and essential reading.

UKMTO Dubai

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office in Dubai acts as the primary point of contact for merchant vessels and liaison with military forces in the region. UKMTO Dubai also administers the Voluntary Reporting Scheme, under which merchant vessels are encouraged to send regular reports, providing their position/course/speed and ETA. The link above is their email address.

MSCHOA Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa

Set up by the European task force to tackle piracy in this area. Established the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). Esper joined MSCHOA organisation to gain full access to the website. Maintenance of ship’s position with the MSCHOA throughout the Indian Ocean is recommended.

ICC-CCS International Chamber of Commerce: Commercial Crimes Service

Go to their IMB Reporting centre for information on piracy and a map of piracy activity.

International Sailing Federation

The International Sailing Federation was set up to provide racing sailors with a set of internationally recognised set of rules and measurement standards. The ISAF also produces a set of recommendations for sailors entering into known areas of piracy. The link above takes you to the latest downloadable pdf on their recommendations.

Best Management Practice Guidelines

From the ICC website: “Industry bodies, along with the IMB and navies, have developed guidelines to assist masters in transiting the dangerous waters in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia.The guidelines, called the Best Management Practice (BMP), are a fluid document which gets updated with renewed guidelines as lessons are learned.” Click on the link to download the pdf.

European Union Naval Force Somalia

EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta acts in accordance with United Nations Security Councils resolutions. The military operation was launched 8 December and has been extended by the European Council until December 2012. EU Navfor has a download page which includes a weekly piracy incident summary, list of currently pirated vessels and the anti-piracy planning chart.

Video Library

Below is a random clip from youtube on the subject of Somali pirates, uploaded within the last 18 months. The buttons on the left (< and >) jump backwards and forwards between random clips, whilst the buttons on the right take you to the original youtube link, switches to full screen, and mutes the volume respectively.

Please note that a few clips may not play due to owner restrictions. If this happens, click the link button to view it (first button on the right after the time counter).

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